Youth Participation and Civic Engagement

Young women and men, particularly those who are living in developing countries, face challenges in areas related to limited access to training and education, employment opportunities and healthcare.

UNESCO Jakarta Youth programme intends to contribute to the empowerment of youth. Based on a holistic understanding of youth civic engagement and a firm believe on the potential of youth as a motor for social change, our programme aims to bridge the gap between the formal institutions and young women and man, including vulnerable, disadvantage and marginalized groups.

This programme actively engages with youth and encourages them to actively contribute to their own future by supporting youth organisations at regional level, building skills for youth civic engagement and supporting youth-led initiatives to promote social inclusion and civic participation.

Ongoing Programme 2012-2015

Building Skills For Youth Empowerment and Civic Engagement in Indonesia.

1. Capacity building in key skills such as leadership, governance, communication, planning and advocacy

2. Youth Voices: To enhance the relationship between youth, including women and marginalized groups, the bureaucracy and elected officials

3. Culture of Peace and inclusive Citizenship as key drivers of youth engagement in society

4. Positioning Youth in the United Nations Post-2015 Development Agenda

5. Social Media in support of Youth Participation

Capacity building in key skills such as leadership, governance, communication, planning and advocacy.

UNESCO will provide capacity-building for young women and men, members of grass-roots youth organizations on youth-led advocacy, leadership, and community engagement.

Activities will explore the great varieties of ways in which youth can contribute to their communities through active participation.

A particular focus will be given on the participation of vulnerable and marginalized youth groups, youth living in rural areas, youth living with disabilities and youth from disadvantaged regions.

By building skills we also refer to the concept of lifelong education in its broadest sense, seeking human development at both personal and professional level, provision of knowledge that will help youth build their character as individuals, as active members of their societies, in other words: prepare them to access the expanding labour market and for the challenges of adulthood.

Youth Voices: To enhance the relationship between youth, including women and marginalized groups, the bureaucracy and elected officials.

Once young men and women have acquired the necessary skills and knowledge on youth-led advocacy, they will be ready to take active part and get involved in policy development.

UNESCO will support youth to reach out to democratic institutions and the elected officials through the provision of effective channels of communication that will enable them raise their voices and be listened and considered by policy-makers and decision-makers.

UNESCO will also promote policy dialogue initiatives among government, academia, youth and development partners to translate research into policy options.

To sum up, UNESCO will provide spaces where Indonesian youth can express themselves, a way to speak out, a channel to influence decisions that affect them as human beings and as members of society.

Upcoming events: UNESCO Grant mechanism on support of youth led-initiatives, January-July 2013, National Dialogue on Inclusive Youth Policies, February 2013

Culture of Peace and inclusive Citizenship as key drivers of youth engagement in society.

More than 300 ethnic groups coexist in the biggest archipelago in the world that is Indonesia. Unity in Diversity is the country’s motto, a statement that is full of challenges when it comes to practice. Inter-ethnic, religious, national identity and political tensions eventually derive in violent riots and fights in few regions of the country.

In this complex context, UNESCO aims to promote a Culture of Peace in the sense of finding ways to change individual and collective attitudes, values, and behaviours permanently to ensure the non-violent resolution of all types of conflict.

We believe that there is no culture of peace without democracy, participation, equality, respect of human rights, respect of cultural diversity, justice, liberty, tolerance, dialogue, reconciliation, solidarity and social justice. Therefore, those are the issues and subjects that need to be addressed through visits of young people to key democratic institutions and development of youth exchanges between youth groups from different backgrounds and origin.

Upcoming events: National Dialogue on Inclusive Youth Policies, February 2013

Positioning Youth in the United Nations Post-2015 Development Agenda

This project has strong linkages with Post 2015 Development Agenda, ensuring that youth can express the "future they want" and making their voices heard. It is very important that youth are being considered as a partner for development in Indonesia.

Our support to the Post 2015 Development Agenda will be twofold: UNESCO will ensure that the needs and concerns of the Indonesian youth are reflected in the draft document that will be submitted to the General Assembly in the year 2014.

Our work will continue once the final document is adopted through supporting the active involvement of Indonesian young men and women in the implementation of the Agenda.

Upcoming events:

UNESCO support to the ICPD Beyond 2014 Global Youth Forum to take place in Bali, 4-6 December 2012

Media Forum "Power of Peace: The Role of Media and Youth in The Future We Want", 2013

Social Media in support of Youth Participation

With more than 43 million users, Indonesia is the second largest Facebook user in the world and the third biggest Tweeter user. Social media influences many aspects of peoples’ lives in Indonesia, and its influence on government policy is growing.

Issues such as corruption, human rights, justice, social equity, and good governance have been trending topics of heated debates on social media, including personal blogs, citizen journalism accounts and other kind of websites.

UNESCO aims to open the floor for discussion on the role of social media as a channel for youth participation, with the belief that social media can serve the Indonesian youth to shape the development agenda of their country.

Upcoming event:

Media Forum "Power of Peace: The Role of Media and Youth in The Future We Want", 2013